Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 68-89: Vision-Based Object Manipulation for Activities of Daily Living Assistance Using Assistive Robot Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5020006 Authors: Md Tanzil Shahria Jawhar Ghommam Raouf Fareh Mohammad H. Rahman The increasing prevalence of upper and lower extremity (ULE) functional deficiencies presents a significant challenge, as it restricts individuals’ ability to perform daily tasks independently. Robotic devices are emerging as assistive devices to assist individuals with limited ULE functionalities in activities of daily living (ADLs). Whil ..read more

Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 50-67: Robotic Disassembly Platform for Disassembly of a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery: A Case Study Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5020005 Authors: Mo Qu D. T. Pham Faraj Altumi Adeyemisi Gbadebo Natalia Hartono Kaiwen Jiang Mairi Kerin Feiying Lan Marcel Micheli Shuihao Xu Yongjing Wang Efficient processing of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles is an important and pressing challenge in a circular economy. Regardless of whether the processing strategy is recycling, repurposing, or remanufacturing, the first processing step will usuall ..read more

Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 49: Correction: Berceanu, C.; Pătrașcu, M. Engineering Emergence: A Survey on Control in the World of Complex Networks. Automation 2022, 3, 176–196 Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5020004 Authors: Cristian Berceanu Monica Pătrașcu In the original publication ..read more

Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 35-48: Automated Detection of Train Drivers’ Head Movements: A Proof-of-Concept Study Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5010003 Authors: David Schackmann Esther Bosch With increasing automation in the rail sector, the train driver’s task changes from full control to a supervisory position. This bears the risk of monotony and subsequent changes in visual attention, possibly for the worse. Similar to concepts in car driving, one solution for this could be driver state monitoring with triggered interventions in case of declining task attention. Pr ..read more

Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 13-34: Neural Network-Based Classifier for Collision Classification and Identification for a 3-DOF Industrial Robot Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5010002 Authors: Khaled H. Mahmoud G. T. Abdel-Jaber Abdel-Nasser Sharkawy In this paper, the aim is to classify torque signals that are received from a 3-DOF manipulator using a pattern recognition neural network (PR-NN). The output signals of the proposed PR-NN classifier model are classified into four indicators. The first predicts that no collisions occur. The other three indicators predict collisions on the three li ..read more

Automation, Vol. 5, Pages 1-12: Virtual Commissioning of Linked Cells Using Digital Models in an Industrial Metaverse Automation doi: 10.3390/automation5010001 Authors: Marco Ullrich Rashik Thalappully Frieder Heieck Bernd Lüdemann-Ravit Various software environments have been developed in the past to create digital twins of single cells or a digital twin of a factory. Each environment has its own strengths and weaknesses and has been designed with a specific focus. The environments that are able to holistically simulate complete factories are limited in terms of the modelling details required ..read more

Automation, Vol. 4, Pages 378-395: A Simplified One-Parallel-Element Automatic Impedance-Matching Network Applied to Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers Driving Automation doi: 10.3390/automation4040022 Authors: João Pedro T. Andrade Pedro Leon F. C. Bazan Vivian S. Medeiros Alan C. Kubrusly Ultrasonic waves generated and received by electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are advantageous in non-destructive testing, mainly due to the ability to operate without physical contact with the medium under test. Nevertheless, they present a main drawback of less efficiency, which leads to a low ..read more

Automation, Vol. 4, Pages 345-358: Implementation of Digital Twin and Real Production System to Address Actual and Future Challenges in Assembly Technology Automation doi: 10.3390/automation4040020 Authors: Lukas Christ Elías Milloch Marius Boshoff Alfred Hypki Bernd Kuhlenkötter Increasing volatility in manufacturing and rising sustainability requirements demand more efficient processes in production, especially in employee qualification and engineering during development and on-site adjustments before and after the start of production. One possible solution is using digital twins for virtual ..read more

Automation, Vol. 4, Pages 359-377: Optimisation of Product Recovery Options in End-of-Life Product Disassembly by Robots Automation doi: 10.3390/automation4040021 Authors: Natalia Hartono F. Javier Ramírez Duc Truong Pham In a circular economy, strategies for product recovery, such as reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing, play an important role at the end of a product’s life. A sustainability model was developed to solve the problem of sequence-dependent robotic disassembly line balancing. This research aimed to assess the viability of the model, which was optimised using the Mu ..read more

Automation, Vol. 4, Pages 327-344: Application of Task-Aligned Model Based on Defect Detection Automation doi: 10.3390/automation4040019 Authors: Ming-Hung Hung Chao-Hsun Ku Kai-Ying Chen In recent years, with the rise of the automation wave, reducing manual judgment, especially in defect detection in factories, has become crucial. The automation of image recognition has emerged as a significant challenge. However, the problem of how to effectively improve the classification of defect detection and the accuracy of the mean average precision (mAP) is a continuous process of improvement and has ..read more